SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Gold futures held their ground above $1,150 an ounce on Friday, finding some support as economic data cooled expectations for a Federal Reserve interest-rate increase as early as June, but prices lost 1% for the week, pressured by gains in the U.S. dollar.

Gold wavered between small losses and gains. April gold
US:GCJ5
climbed 50 cents to settle at $1,152.40 an ounce on Comex. For the week, it logged a loss of about 1%.

May silver
US:SIK5
fell 2.2 cents, or 0.1%, to $15.494 an ounce — nearly 2% lower for the week.

“The narrative for the gold market hasn’t changed,” according to Friday’s 7:00’s Report, which offers daily markets commentary. The “medium-term outlook remains bearish as the dollar remains in a well-defined uptrend but near term, there is a decent chance for a short-covering rally back to the high $1,100s or $1,200.”

A stronger dollar weighs on dollar-denominated commodities, making them more expensive to users of other currencies. Expectations for a June rate hike by the Fed has helped support the dollar. The ICE Dollar Index
DXY, -0.08% topped 100 Friday, putting pressure on gold prices.

Adrian Ash, head of research at BullionVault, pointed out that gold priced in dollars recorded its lowest Friday London PM fix price since April of 2010 — at $1,152. But the 1,096.10 gold price in euros was its highest Friday finish since January’s 20-month highs, he said.

“The disconnect between the U.S. dollar and the rest of the world couldn’t be plainer,” Ash said.

Looking ahead, the Federal Reserve will hold a two-day meeting beginning on Tuesday. The meeting “will be the most important element for gold traders,” said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at AvaTrade. “If the Fed are bullish, this could hurt the gold price further,” he said.

In other metals trade, April platinum
US:PLJ5
rose 30 cents to end at $1,115.20 an ounce, while June palladium
US:PAM5
tacked on $1.75, or 0.2%, to $788.70 an ounce. Both contracts saw losses closer to 4% for the week.

Copper was the only major metal on Comex to gain for the week. May copper
US:HGK5
settled at $2.6635 a pound, up a half cent for the session to tally a gain of roughly 2.2% for the week.

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